Self-storage units, in the United States, are typically rented on a monthly basis with the rent for each month being due on the first day of that month. If the rent is not paid by the tenth day of the month, the owner of the facility gains the legal right to lock out the renter, so that the renter no longer has access to the storage unit. Accordingly, on the eleventh day of each month, the manager of a self-storage facility typically has the task of walking around the facility and over locking all of the units for which the renter of the unit has not paid his rent for the current month. This is done by placing an additional lock on the storage unit door, through a hasp specially set for this purpose. For a large facility with hundreds of storage units this task can take two to four hours.
Another characteristic of self-storage facilities is that they are typically fenced and gated. The gate is controlled by a keypad that is linked to a computer. Each renter is associated with a key sequence that the renter enters into the keypad in order to enter and exit the facility. The computer notes the renter's presence in the facility. The computer to which the keypad is linked typically runs a computer program specially designed for facilitating the management of a self-storage facility. When a renter pays his or her rent, this information is logged into the computer. Accordingly, on the eleventh day of the month it is a simple matter to obtain a list of unit numbers for which the rent has not been paid.
Although self-storage unit renters are typically careful to secure their goods, in a large facility with hundreds of renters there are likely to be a fair number of instances, every month, of a renter forgetting to lock his unit when he has completed his tasks at the facility and is prepared to leave. This, of course, leaves the storage unit vulnerable to thievery. Every instance of thievery lowers the reputation of the facility and results in a certain amount of extra work for the manager.
It is an unfortunate truth of the self-storage industry that some facility managers engage in thievery. Although the tenant places his own lock on a unit, a manager may be quite knowledgeable about locks and may know how to pick a lock, or even have another key that works for the lock, in his collection of locks and keys that are used for over locking units. Accordingly, many renters would appreciate some additional assurance that their goods are safe from a thieving manager when locked in the storage unit.
Thieves that break into storage lockers by cutting off the lock constitute another problem for storage facility owners, operators and renters. Addressing this problem, locks that include an alarm mechanism that makes an audible sound or transmits a radio frequency signal are known in the prior art. There could be a problem in the use of these locks in a facility with hundreds of locked units, however, because it would not be immediately evident which lock was producing the alarm signal.
Another problem encountered in the self-storage industry is that of renters losing their keys. Because a key to a rental unit is not an item that would typically be used on an everyday basis, many renters may place this key in a location that is subsequently forgotten. When this happens, the lock must be cut off the storage unit, creating more work for the facility manager and an unwanted expense to the renter.